The study, by M.D.R. Edwards, Jonathan Kelley, Joanna Sikorac and Donald J. Treimand, examined samples from 27 different countries and found that growing up in a home with 500 or more books offers a child the same advantage as “having university-educated rather than unschooled parents, and twice the advantage of having a professional rather than an unskilled father.” Even with as few as 25 books in the home, a child, on average, will complete two more years of education than a child growing up in a home with no books.As a parent who has a rather large collection of books for both adults and children, I applaud the idea of getting more books into homes in order to encourage children to read more. However, the drawback is that in today’s economic situation there are many families who simply do not have the resources to purchase a large number of books for their children. In America, as well as numerous other countries, there are, or used to be before budget cuts, easily accessible public libraries to lend books out to local residents. Unfortunately, the same type of library system that is a part of American life is not an integral part of life in Turkey.
When my two nephews were young, they loved going to the local library, just a short walk away from their home. There they could browse through the books to find the three they wanted to borrow to take home and read for the week. They also enjoyed going to the weekly storytelling evening. One night a week, on a Friday or Saturday, parents would bring their pajama-clad children to the library for an hour of story time before returning home for bedtime. Children would snuggle with their parents and siblings, often with stuffed animals hugged tightly in their arms, and listen as one of the library aides read storybooks aloud to the assembled group.
I’m sure that my own son would love to have the chance to participate in a library story time. However, since we live in Turkey full-time, he has missed out on being able to visit a local library for story time. I often wish that there was a public library near us that lent out books for children and adults to take home to read together. Since that is not a possibility at the moment, we have to settle for books we find at bookstores in Istanbul or books that I have sent by post from outside of the country.
When I am in the United States for a visit, I always go to bookstores and stock up on children’s books that I can package up and ship to Turkey. In order to share books and pass on ones that our children have outgrown, several other mothers and I get together periodically to swap books and DVDs. Our children are varying ages, and every time we meet, they end up with a new collection of books and movies. For many of us, it is too expensive to buy a lot of foreign language books in Turkey, and there tends to be a rather limited supply in the bookstores. However, with our book exchange, we can generally find at least a few slightly used books that will entice our children to read more in their spare time.
When I was growing up, my mother encouraged my brother and I to read. We had a vast assortment of books at home, from encyclopedias, novels, nonfiction and biographies. Since I first learned to read, I have always loved curling up in a quiet corner with a good book. Now, with a son of my own, I hope that I can pass on my love of books to him. I try to find books that fit his interests and are age appropriate. I also introduce him to books that are written for a slightly older audience in order to challenge and expand his reading skills.
In my opinion, books have the power to ignite imaginations, educate people about other cultures and traditions and entertain. They can provide a window into worlds that we may not otherwise have access into. While I wish that there were public lending libraries in Turkey, we have found ways to make do with what is available to us at the moment. Even if we do not have 500 books in our home, every book we do have in our own personal library is valued.
Send comments and questions to k.hamilton@todayszaman.com
